Rare Beauty
by AlannasTara
Summary: I work part-time in a flower shop and you keep asking me about what this flower means in flower language and I honestly don't know so you end up giving me a lesson' AU prompt from whowhatsitwhich on tumblr. Oneshot. Caryl.


**'I work part-time in a flower shop and you keep asking me about what this flower means in flower language and I honestly don't know so you end up giving me a lesson' AU ~ prompt from whowhatsitwhich on tumblr  
**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from TWD, the characters, stories, plots, etc. No copyright infringement intended.**

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Carol tied a headscarf around her head, to keep her hair out of her eyes, patted her apron down, and slipped on the thick, rough canvas gardening gloves. Looking in the mirror that hung on the wall in the tiny backroom of the flower shop, she stood up tall and proud, straightened her shoulders, and admired the flush of her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes.

Today was the first day of the rest of her life. She had left her past in the dust, moving full steam ahead in pursuit of her dreams. She'd been accepted to the small community college, getting the basic classes under her belt before she bit off something a bit larger. Then, she applied for a part time job at this flower shop, hoping to gain some on the job experience that would help in her chosen field of horticulture.

Her dream was to one day own her own greenhouse. Being among the plants, flowers, trees, and the greenery was rejuvenating to her. It made her feel alive in a way not much ever had, and gave her a sense of purpose. She didn't know a lot about plants, aside from loving the way they looked and smelled, but that was why she got this job. To expand her knowledge and give her experience.

Jacqui showed her the area where the flowers and plants were displayed, and gave her some basic instructions on plant care and some tips on arranging floral displays for their shop window. She went over how to help the customer choose their arrangement and showed her the private consultation area for large or custom orders for weddings and events. Feeling confident in her abilities, Carol proceeded to work on building a display and let Jacqui get back to her managing her books and inventory.

Carol hummed softly, completely in her element as she worked with the fragrant blooms. She felt euphoric, brimming with hope as she thought about her future, and the things she could accomplish.

She was deeply entranced in her thoughts when the bell rang over the shop door, the tinkling sound startling her from her work.

She grinned, excited at her first customer, and greeted the man, "Hi! Welcome to Jacqui's! My name's Carol, may I help you find anything?"

Her joy and smile were infectious, and the man couldn't help but to respond in kind, a slight uptilt to the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks, ah...I'm looking for something for someone special. She's in the hospital and I want to send her something to cheer her up."

"Of course! I can help with that. Did you have a color in mind? Or a type of flower?"

Carol queried the man as she walked around to where the majority of the flowers were highlighted in a catalog on the back counter.

"We have some standard arrangements for hospital deliveries, or you can design your own. Here we go," she said as she flipped open the book to the section with the set arrangements.

"Those are real nice, but I think I'd like to come up with somethin' myself. Feels more personal, ya know?"

Carol smiled, her eyes crinkling up in the corners, as she nodded. "I do know. We can definitely do that." She flipped through the section with different flowers listed, and let him page through the book.

"This one's nice," he murmured as he pointed to the page.

"Ooh, a lily, yes those are lovely."

"You know what they mean?" He asked, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Mean? The flower?" Carol looked over in confusion. Jacqui hadn't covered this with her. Flower meanings?

"Yeah, each flower has a kinda meaning, a flower language." His cheeks pinkened as he explained and his ears, not quite covered by his shaggy, dirty blond locks, reddened more and more with each word of his explanation.

"Ohhhh. I didn't know…"

"Yeah, um, see this one here," he flipped to another page, pointing out a red rose. "Pretty much everyone knows red roses mean love." He coughed, clearing his throat before continuing. "Uhh, white means, um, innocence," he said, wrinkling his brow as he tried to remember.

"And yellow means friendship!" Carol exclaimed, laughing at the surprised look on his face. "I actually knew that one."

"Yeah, so...ev'ry flower has a meaning. Just wanna get the right one, ya know?"

"Of course! Okay, so what about this one?" Carol pointed to a grouping of carnations.

"Nah," he shook his head, "Don't want those. In Mexico, some of the locals call 'em "flowers of the dead." Put 'em on graves and shit. Don't want to send those to a hospital."

"No! Of course not," Carol said, looking horrified at her faux pas. "How do you know so much about flowers?"

She looked curiously over at the man, noticing his strong profile, sharp cheekbones and beautiful blue eyes. Oh my! He was gorgeous...in a rough kinda way.

"GG, my grandmother, she loved flowers. Always talkin' about 'em. Had this real fancy garden. When I was little, my ma would send me over there to help her since she was gettin' older. Didn't move around as well." He chuckled with his next words, a note of wistfulness playing in the edges of his voice. "She was always quizzin' me on 'em, their names and meanings."

Carol looked at this rough looking man, an awestruck expression on her face. There was something so open and vulnerable about him that completely betrayed his tough appearance. The way he talked about his GG was...almost reverent. It was humbling and made her long for familial connections of her own. Memories to cherish as he obviously did.

His face broke for a moment, a profound grief flashing through his eyes before he schooled his features once more, and flipped the page. Carol decided not to remark on the display, and instead joined him in gazing at the different flowers.

"What about the peony?" She suggested, pointing to the colorful and open, almost bushy-like petals.

He looked thoughtfully at the bloom in question, a puzzled expression on his face. "I don't remember that one."

Carol hummed and then whipped her gloves off, pulling her cell phone out of her back pocket.

"We'll just have to find out, won't we?" She flicked the screen open, and tapped the keyboard, looking it up on her phone. "Well, Mr…?"

"Daryl, just Daryl."

"Well, Daryl, assuming you like the look of the flower, I think we may have found a winner." She handed her phone to him, showing him the search results.

" _One legend has it that the peony is named after Paeon, a physician to the gods, who received the flower on Mount Olympus from the mother of Apollo. And another tells the story of that same physician who was "saved" from the fate of dying as other mortals by being turned into the flower we know today as the peony."_ _1_

" _Peony means 'healing.' "_ _2_

"I think you're right," Daryl said, passing her phone back to her. "I'll take a dozen or so, in the prettiest vase you got."

"Okay!" Carol closed the book and moved around behind the counter. "I can have it ready for you in just a few minutes, if you don't mind waiting?"

"Nah, go ahead."

"She must be a real special lady for you to go to all this trouble. Your wife? Girlfriend?" Carol mentioned off-handedly, trying to appear casual and not like she was fishing for information, which she totally was. There was just something about him…

"Nah, not married, no girlfriend. They're for my niece. She just had surgery and I wanna do somethin' to cheer her up."

"Oh, well, I'm certain these are going to do just the trick." Carol ducked into the cooler to grab the peonies and the greenery and joined him back at the counter, arranging the vase just so, and adding a touch of baby's breath to complete the look. It was perfect.

Daryl paid for the arrangement and as he was turning to leave he saw a beautiful pink orchid on display. Turning back around, he placed the orchid on the counter and motioned to Carol.

"This one, too."

"This is a beautiful choice. Orchids are one of my favorites," Carol said, sighing dreamily. "What does it mean?"

Daryl just grinned and winked in answer, taking his change. He picked the vase of peonies up again, and turned to leave.

"Daryl! You're forgetting your orchid!" Carol called out to him.

He turned to face her, walking backwards to the door.

"No, I'm not. It's yours. Thank you." He smiled warmly at her as he pushed the door open, the tinkling bell announcing his departure.

She stood there, mouth agape, looking back and forth between the door and the flower, trying to determine what had just happened. Finally she jerked up and grabbed her phone again, typing 'pink orchid' into the search engine. What she read made my heart jump and start beating wildly.

" _The most highly coveted of ornamental plants, the delicate, exotic and graceful orchid represents love, luxury, beauty and strength._ _ **Pink orchids convey pure affection**_ _."_ _3_

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 _Source for 1 and 3 come from "Teleflora dot com." Source for 2 comes from "aboutflowers dot com."_

 _Thanks for reading!  
_

 _xoxoxo_


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